PRICING NOTICE: Launch of China pig iron import price assessment

Fastmarkets on Thursday August 26 launches a fortnightly assessment of the China pig iron import price, reported on a US-dollar-per-tonne-cfr-China basis.

After a consultation period that ended on August 9, Fastmarkets has launched its pig iron, import, cfr China, $ per tonne assessment, effective on Thursday August 26.

Market sources expect China to import pig iron in increasing volumes due to its evolving steel industry. They also believe that pig iron will play a vital role in the decarbonization of the steel sector in China.

China imported approximately 5.6 million tonnes of pig iron in 2020, more than five times the 1.0 million tonnes it imported in 2019. In the first seven months of 2021, the country has imported 1.4 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material.

The proposed specifications for the price assessment are as follows:

MB-IRO-0178 Pig iron, import, cfr China, $ per tonne
Quality: Manganese 1.25% max; Phosphorus 0.15% max
Typical weight: 5kg per piece, max 25kg per piece
Quantity: Minimum 5,000 tonnes
Location: cfr main ports China
Timing: 6-12 weeks
Unit: $ per tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Fortnightly, Thursday, by 6pm Shanghai time.

To provide feedback on this price, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter, please contact Tianran Zhao or Paul Lim by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading: “FAO: Tianran Zhao/Paul Lim, re: China pig iron prices.”

To see all of Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.

What to read next
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-ALU-0002 alumina index, fob Australia and its MB-ALU-0010 alumina inferred index, fob Brazil, which were published incorrectly on Monday March 18.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ US base metals prices were published early during the week of March 11-15 following the daylight saving time change in the US on March 10.
Fastmarkets has corrected its fob Australia premium hard coking coal index, which was published incorrectly on Monday March 18 due to a technical error.
Fastmarkets wishes to clarify details around the following aspects of the pricing methodology for its MB-STE-0073 steel reinforcing bar (rebar) export, fob main port Southern Europe assessment.
Fastmarkets proposes to increase the publishing frequency of its Pakistan shredded steel scrap import index from weekly to twice per week.
Following an initial 30-day consultation period, Fastmarkets has elected to extend the consultation period to amend the frequency of its US Midwest low-carbon aluminium differentials to allow for further feedback from the industry.